InnerBliss: How Strong Is Your Sense of Self?

Trees in the city cemetery. Perfect image for first chakra.

Listening to: First chakra opening music.

Today's Bliss Formula: Oh! I am wearing a most amazing new skirt, whose maker will be my interview subject this Wednesday. A clear internet connection from our kitchen window, as there is only one more day til the cable arrives. There are days when it's enough to be wearing a cute outfit, don't you agree?

I love how Ravi Singh talks about the chakras and the spine; he says they are a ladder of light that is both a literal and a metaphorical journey toward enlightenment.

And without the lowest rung on this ladder, we could never get started on this journey. Liberation would not be possible without what we tend to think of as the lowly first chakra.

A lot of us want to skip this chakra and move onto the crown -- or at least the heart. Or we think once we've worked through certain "stuff" that we are "done" with the root. But that is never the case. You are never done with the root, just like you are never done with any of them. When you picture that ladder of light, it's best perhaps to picture a strand of DNA ladder -- one that spirals in and around itself.

The first chakra (color red) is where we are connected to the power of the earth. It is through the first that we experience our own manifested, present, finite nature. It is where Kundalini lies, spiraled, waiting for us to wake up. It is the opposite of the end of the ladder from the crown, which connects us to that which manifested, the infinite.

In the growth of a mighty oak tree, the roots come first, and so too must we begin here.

The first chakra is all about our basic sense of self and about acceptance. It's about accepting that we are alive here and now. It's about accepting all aspects of ourselves, whether or not we think they are nice or pretty. It's about accepting that we are the same as everyone but that we are also unique.

We cannot, and I repeat, we cannot have a spiritual experience without first accepting our physical existence. Our physicality is not something to transcend, but rather, our physicality is the vehicle through which our enlightenment and liberation can happen. They are intertwined and inseparable -- like the chains that make up that ladder of light, that DNA chain.

So here are some questions to spend some time exploring so that you might come to know more deeply the strengths and weaknesses of your first chakra:

1. Overall: How is your self-esteem these days?

2. Are you so anal retentive that only perfection from yourself and others is good enough? Is imperfection to be hidden and denied?

3. Do you trust your own instincts, your own first feelings about things? Are you capable of making choices or do you have to research everything from a new pair of shoes to a new friend?Do you ask everyone you know about a decision you are faced with?

4. Do you fear anything new, from a new job to a new restaurant to a new schedule? Are you clinging to old, outmoded things, peoples, perceptions out of a desire to maintain comfort above all else?

5. Do you fear challenge and spontaneity? Do you have to control every single aspect of your life? Is your life nothing but lists and notes and details?

6. Are you overbooked or solidly booked everyday? If you lost your planner(s), would you be lost yourself? Do you have to plan in leisure, rest, and rejuvenation?

7. Do you let life happen all around you or do you purposely direct your energies and your intentions?

8. Are you able to stand firm, on your own two feet, even in the face of opposition? Do you have the courage to live your convictions?

9. Do you feel connected to people and places in a deep and meaningful way? Or are you always on the run?

If you thought your journal was getting a bit dull, there's plenty here for at least the next week!

To help with your exploration of the first chakra, perhaps you could wear some red every day for the week -- a shawl or a piece of jewelry or a shirt. You could play with different shades of red paint. You could simply pay attention to your reactions to the color red.

In terms of yoga, some poses that can be helpful are corpse, mountain, lotus, tree, and warrior. In all of these poses, try to feel your body's physical connection to the earth. Imagine roots growing from your spine or your feet and see them going deeply into the earth, meeting up with the roots of the great trees.

Also, spend some time doing long deep breathing. Use three part breathing. (For an explanation, go here.)

Have any of you out there spent significant time with your first chakra work? Please share what you've learned.